Pitt Wire; How Pitt is Preparing for the Spread of the Coronavirus
"The University of Pittsburgh continues to monitor the spread of the
coronavirus disease, COVID-19, and is taking steps to respond to
community needs. As of Feb. 27, no cases of COVID-19 have been reported
in Pennsylvania. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) has stated that the individual immediate health risk to those in
the United States is currently low, communities should prepare for the
coronavirus to spread.
Keeping our community informed
Since the emergence of the virus in December 2019, campus health and
public safety leaders have coordinated closely with the Allegheny County
Health Department and Pennsylvania Department of Health and are
following guidance from the CDC and World Health Organization.
Pitt encourages members of the University community to visit the Public Safety and Emergency Management website,
which remains a centralized and reliable source for information on this
issue. “Knowing where to find reliable information is important for
community members,” said Molly Stitt-Fischer, the University’s biosafety
officer. “As the health and scientific communities learn more as the
situation continues to change very quickly, access to the most current
guidance is critical.”
Showing posts with label coronavirus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coronavirus. Show all posts
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Thursday, February 13, 2020
What China’s empty new coronavirus hospitals say about its secretive system; The Guardian, February 12, 2020
Emma Graham-Harrison, The Guardian; What China’s empty new coronavirus hospitals say about its secretive system
"A propaganda system designed to support the party and state cannot be relied on for accurate information. That is a problem not just for families left bereft by the coronavirus and businesses destroyed by the sudden shutdown, but for a world trying to assess Beijing’s success in controlling and containing the disease.
“China’s centralised system and lack of freedom of press definitely delay a necessary aggressive early response when it was still possible to contain epidemics at the local level,” said Ho-fung Hung, a professor in political economy at Johns Hopkins University in the US...
“There is no one quick fix to the Chinese system to make it respond better next time,” said Hung. “But if there is one single factor that could increase the government’s responsiveness to this kind of crisis, [it would be] a free press.”"
"A propaganda system designed to support the party and state cannot be relied on for accurate information. That is a problem not just for families left bereft by the coronavirus and businesses destroyed by the sudden shutdown, but for a world trying to assess Beijing’s success in controlling and containing the disease.
“China’s centralised system and lack of freedom of press definitely delay a necessary aggressive early response when it was still possible to contain epidemics at the local level,” said Ho-fung Hung, a professor in political economy at Johns Hopkins University in the US...
“There is no one quick fix to the Chinese system to make it respond better next time,” said Hung. “But if there is one single factor that could increase the government’s responsiveness to this kind of crisis, [it would be] a free press.”"
Sunday, February 9, 2020
The coronavirus outbreak has exposed the deep flaws of Xi’s autocracy; The Guardian, February 9, 2020
Richard McGregor, The Guardian; The coronavirus outbreak has exposed the deep flaws of Xi’s autocracy
"The authoritarian strictures of the Chinese party state place a premium on the control of information in the name of maintaining stability. In such a system, lower-level officials have no incentive to report bad news up the line. Under Xi, such restrictions have grown tighter.
In Wuhan, Li and seven of his fellow doctors had been talking among themselves in an internet chat group about a new cluster of viral infections. They stopped after being warned by police. By the time the authorities reacted and quarantined the city, it was too late.
Li was neither a dissident nor a pro-democracy activist seeking to overthrow the Communist party. But he was risking jail to even discuss the virus. For in Xi’s China, the professional classes – doctors, lawyers, journalists and the like – all must subsume their skills and ethics to the political directives of the moment."
"The authoritarian strictures of the Chinese party state place a premium on the control of information in the name of maintaining stability. In such a system, lower-level officials have no incentive to report bad news up the line. Under Xi, such restrictions have grown tighter.
In Wuhan, Li and seven of his fellow doctors had been talking among themselves in an internet chat group about a new cluster of viral infections. They stopped after being warned by police. By the time the authorities reacted and quarantined the city, it was too late.
Li was neither a dissident nor a pro-democracy activist seeking to overthrow the Communist party. But he was risking jail to even discuss the virus. For in Xi’s China, the professional classes – doctors, lawyers, journalists and the like – all must subsume their skills and ethics to the political directives of the moment."
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